Malls and Niches
Web Commerce Today, Issue 24, July 15, 1999
My daughter and I go looking for an Australian bush hat in Sacramento's Downtown Plaza mall. Here in the shadow of giant Macy's is a shop that specializes in hats. Prices are every bit as good as elsewhere, but the selection is unmatched. Macy's carries some hats, of course, but they didn't try to carry 10 varieties of Australian bush hats in various materials, colors, weights, and sizes. The hattery, on the other hand, has every hat you can think of and a few that slipped your mind -- a Viking helmet with horns, a wizard's tall pointed velvet cap, a "hippie" cap with long hair protruding from the sides. We have fun trying them on. I select an Australian bush hat, and my daughter finds a Tilley Hat she falls in love with.
Next door is Brookstone "hard-to-find tools," with unique products for back pain relief and gardening, plus electronic games and something for the executive who has everything. The emphasis is on quality and uniqueness. I admire the inventiveness of the products.
But as we browse these interesting shops, questions gnaw at my mind. Niches in the shadow of Macy's -- how does it work? In the physical world where we have to GO somewhere, we pass things on our way; close and far away have meaning. A mall works from the synergy and attraction of many stores, the fun of shopping, and foot traffic passing by shop windows.
How well does the concept of a mall translate to the Web?
- Department stores and niches can coexist on the Web . One is general, one is specific, and people only sometimes want to be overwhelmed with a variety of hats. They appeal to different needs and different kinds of shoppers. The hattery's daily receipts won't rival Macy's, but they will provide a good living for an owner and work for a few employees.
- Close and far have no meaning on the Web . That means that I won't look at something because it's on my way. A cluster of different stores, unless they are tightly integrated, don't bring traffic synergy to each other on the Web.
- Web shopping isn't fun . Window shopping with a friend may be fun, and perhaps free-association Web surfing is fun, but Web shopping isn't. There's no one with you to share the experience. Web shopping is a solitary rather than social activity.
- Your world doesn't extend to walking down the entire mall. On the Web your world is a single screen. Impulse buying happens when you see something on your screen you find interesting and click on it. But screen space on popular portal sites is expensive; it involves purchasing advertising from the site that gets the traffic.
What does all this mean for the small business?
- Don't be afraid of the giants . A well-designed niche store can prosper in the shadow of the more general giant store.
- Don't pay to be part of an online "mall" since proximity doesn't count, only visibility on the potential customer's screen.
- Instead, pick and choose your advertising purchases where they will do you the most good. Test, experiment, and retest until you find an advertising mix that works for your site.
- Don't be dull. Make your site fun, interesting, stimulating . Replace the absent social shopping experience with an invigorating, fascinating one. Think interaction. Think music. Think depth of information. Think breadth of products within your narrow niche.
Don't think "mall," think "niche," and you'll be on the right track.
